VlcNiel says Caperton in ‘Aggie Mafia’
By STARR MOORE
Battalion Reporter
[lie democratic state senate candidate
ht Caperton is a member of an “Aggie
fia” which threatens Texas A&M Uni-
sity, the Republican candidate charged
dnesday.
fiiJ.A. McNiel, in a Wednesday morning
sss conference, described the “Aggie
y ifia —which he said includes Caperton,
fry Mauro, the former state Democratic
hy executive director and others — as
I most serious threat that he’s seen to
xas A&M.
IcNiel is battling Caperton for the Fifth
trict senate seat currently held by
mocrat Bill Moore.
larry Mauro, Caperton’s former Texas
ItM roommmate, and his cousin, Don
luro, Caperton’s law partner, are of Ita-
B descent — hence the name “Aggie
[afia.
■IcNiel said liberals and Democrats have
■reat potential influence over Texas
ItM.
■I think that this institution should not
tontrolled by a single party, and certain
ly not by a group of liberal Democrats,” he
said.
McNiel said he heard that Caperton was
N.A. McNiel
carried to the Texas A&M Board of Regents
by Board Chairman Clyde Wells and intro
duced to the regents.
“The Board of Regents has endorsed a
member of the Aggie Mafia,” McNiel said.
After the May primaries, then-President
Jarvis Miller hosted a reception for Caper
ton at the Miller home on campus. Several
regents attended the reception, which one
University administrator described as a
“mend the fences” gesture.
Caperton also attended the next morn
ing’s board meeting and delivered a small,
conciliatory speech to the regents.
The regents and University administra
tors had unofficially endorsed Moore
against Caperton in the primary. Caperton
defeated Moore in the primary, thus the
mending of the fences.
Don Mauro said McNiel's statement that
Caperton has the regents’ endorsement is
untrue. The regents have not endorsed
Caperton, as they are not in the business of
endorsing anyone, he said.
The regents are some of the smartest and
most successful men in the state, he said.
They will not be influenced by “a young
group of Aggies in their early 30s.”
Mauro added that the “Mafia” is merely a
group of friends, willing to work with and
for each other.
Caperton, reached by telephone while
campaigning in Conroe, said he has known
Wells since Caperton was a junior at Texas
A&M, when Wells was an administrative
assistant to former President Jack Wil
liams. Wells has been a regent since 1961,
and is serving his third two-year term as
chairman.
Caperton said he appeared at an open
board meeting after the primaries, at which
time he announced to the regents that he
was the Democratic nominee.
Caperton said he has a good and candid
working relationship with the regents, “in
stark contrast to McNiel.”
McNiel said he wants to “remove any
ability of the liberal Democrats to take
charge of what is regarded as one of the
most conservative universities in this
country.
“Texas A&M University has earned the
reputation as being a conservative school,
and this image has attracted many students
to our campus,” McNiel said.
McNiel is a former genetics instructor at
The Battalion
Vol. 74 No. 39
32 Pages in 2 Sections
Serving the Texas A&M University community
Thursday, October 23, 1980
College Station, Texas
USPS 045 360
Phone 845-2611
Texas A&M, and holds the title of professor
emeritus.
He cited recent top-level shakeups in the
Kent Caperton
Texas A&M administration, such as the re
moval of a chancellor, a president, and the
“exodus of people of reputation” as evi
dence of the undesirable influence.
In January 1979, Chancellor Jack Wil
liams resigned under regents’ pressure. In
July of this year. Miller was removed as
Texas A&M president after disagreements
with Chancellor Frank W.R. Hubert.
Several deans and University adminis
trators also have departed the University,
voluntarily, in the past six months.
McNiel said he offers morality, integrity,
and leadership. He said he can give the
office the experience it requires and not
just use the job as training experience.
He also said he feels the Fifth District
would be better represented by a person
other than a lawyer.
McNiel said his support is strongest in
Brazos County because that’s where his
opponent is best known.
He said the “Aggie Mafia” is active, but
he said he can not say to what extent.
Caperton said McNiel’s statements are a
desperate move.
“He’s obviously grasping at straws,”
Caperton said.
The Weather
Yesterday
High 77
Low 58
Rain 0.00 inches
Today
High 80
Low. 52
Humidity muggy
Chance of rain none
Too many juror doubts cause Clayton acquittal
S' ....... . . ... „ .
United Press International
HOUSTON — In the end, one juror
said, House Speaker Bill Clayton’s explana
tions overrode the charges by Brilab pro
secutors that secret tape recordings
showed he took a $5,000 bribe.
“The government tried to read between
the lines and there wasn’t any lines to read
between,” juror James Haynes said after
Clayton and two co-defendants were ac
quitted of conspiracy, fraud, extortion and
racketeering Wednesday.
“It was pretty simple. Clayton wasn’t
there to take money.”
Clayton was accused of taking $5,000
from FBI informant Joseph Hauser
through Deer Park union leader L.G.
Moore in exchange for helping reopen bid
ding on a state insurance contract. Hauser
posed as an insurance salesman.
Clayton admitted accepting the money
but said he ordered it placed in a drawer to
be returned to Moore later. Clayton testi
fied he delayed returning it to avoid embar
rassing Moore, a political ally, in the other
man’s presence.
Haynes also cited testimony by Assistant
Secretary of State Chip Holt that Clayton
legally could have kept the money for
months and then returned it as if it never
had been accepted.
The turning point in the trial was what
Chip Holt said, that he could hold the
money as long as possible without return
ing it and that was the one thing that made
him innocent in my mind,” Haynes said.
Jury foreman Tye Holman Jr. said
another key was the jurors’ feeling that no
deal really had been made.
“There is the concept of going to the
store and paying $5,000 to buy something,”
Holman said. “It (Clayton’s action) is not
the same as a transaction at a store.”
Haynes said he was surprised when the
prosecution rested after presenting 26
hours of tapes — 25 minutes of which in
volved Clayton — and a ragtag group of
prosecution witnesses, some of whom
actually defended Clayton.
“All along I wondered when they were
going to get to something that was solid
enough for me to send somebody to prison
on,” he said.
Haynes also said, in the end, the fact that
jurors were not convinced “beyond a
reasonable doubt” forced acquittal of
Clayton and co-defendants Randall Buck
Wood and Donald Ray.
“I think we all had doubts at one time or
another and that was probably the biggest
single issue that kept us from going ahead
and saying guilty,” Haynes said.
Holman said several jurors were trou
bled by the government’s technique —
“the underground, the scam, the under
handed method of spying” — of sending a
two-time convicted swindler to Clayton to
bribe him and then inform on him.
“1 feel they got two people (Hauser and
Moore) who were very good at what they
did, very good at going into his (Clayton’s)
office, confronting a very honest man,”
Haynes said.
“There was some talk about entrapment,
but we didn’t reach any big conclusions
about it,” Holman said. He added he was
not personally offended by the investiga
tive and prosecution methods.
“I think this trial may serve as a lesson for
others,” Holman said.
Holman said jurors also had mixed opin
ions of the government’s prime witness,
Hauser, who had plea-bargained his parti
cipation in the investigation in an effort to
lighten his own sentences.
“Some believed him,” Holman said.
“Some felt sorry for him. Some thought he
was a crook. Some thought he played a
good game.”
No comment from Washington
on meeting Khomeini demands
ola ’s last free meal a gem
United Press International
CHICAGO — Lola Chambers has
arned the hard way that sometimes what-
;r Lola wants, Lola doesn’t get.
Ithe 49-year-old Romeoville woman
fces up to five years in prison for her con-
Iction on charges of stealing a $7,000 di-
imond which disappeared after she
reatened to swallow it during a dispute
er service at a jewelry store.
During the woman’s trial, it was testified
»t Chambers purchased a $4,500 di-
nond ring in 1979 at S.A. Peck & Co.
Prosecutors said she claimed the di
amond fell out of her ring in February 1980
and was lost.
The disgruntled customer wanted to
have the diamond replaced, but a Peck
employee told her he could do nothing ab
out the loss because more than 30 days had
elapsed since the purchase of the ring.
So Chambers returned to the store on
Feb. 14 and had a salesman show her a
diamond to match her setting. She choose a
1.28 carat gem worth about $7,000 and
popped it into her mouth.
“I want to see the top man or I will
swallow this diamond,” prosecutors quoted
her as telling the stunned salesman.
An assistant vice president warned her
she could injure herself by swallo^Ving the
gem, but Chambers said she didn’t care.
Chambers was arrested and taken to
Henrotin Hospital, where X-rays failed to
show a diamond in her stomach. The
woman then told police she had thrown the
diamond near a plant in the display room
before her arrest, but a search failed to
produce the gem, prosecutors said.
Tuesday Cook County Circuit Judge
Daniel White found her guilty of theft, cit
ing the loss of the gem.
United Press International
LONDON — Iran’s prime minister says the United States is
ready to accept Ayatollah Khomeini’s conditions for the release of
the American hostages, raising sudden new hope the 52 captives
may be released as early as Monday after nearly a year under
guard.
In Washington, the State Department would neither confirm
nor deny the reports.
The signs of a possible break in the year-long crisis came from
Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Rajai in a Tehran news confer
ence Wednesday.
Rajai said he believes the United States is ready to accept
Khomeini’s four conditions for the release of the hostages held 355
days, but stressed their fate ultimately must be decided by Iran’s
parliament. A parliament debate on the hostages is scheduled for
Sunday.
Khomeini’s conditions were return of the late shah’s wealth,
freeing more than $8 billion of Iranian assets frozen in American-
owned banks, a pledge not to interfere in Iranian affairs, and an
Amerian promise not to make any claims against Iran as a result of
the hostage issue.
State Department spokesman David Nall said in reply to ques
tions: “We’ve said all along we’ve been in indirect contact with the
Iran authorities but we re not going to discuss the substance of
those contacts.”
Nall would not confirm or deny the report the Swiss Embassy,
which has handled U.S. affairs in Iran since the occupation of the
American embassy Nov. 4 of last year, transmitted a comprehen
sive U.S. reply to Khomeini’s conditions that led to the agree
ment.
But a White House spokesman called reports the United States
has responded through the Swiss Embassy to Khomeini’s condi
tions for release of the hostages “implausible.”
“We are not formally or informally responding to the ayatollah’s
conditions or other statements from myriad sources that are
issuing them,” the spokesman said.
Tehran sources reached by telephone from London said Rajai
left it unclear whether the parliament would impose further con
ditions. Indicating that was possible, Rajai said, “Of course, we
have to explain what is meant by all the demands. ”
Nevertheless, Rajai’s remarks indicated new flexibility by a
representative of Iran’s hard-line Islamic fundamentalists.
Supporting the theory the Islamic fundamentalists capitalized
on the hostage seizure to rally the Iranian masses behind them and
consolidate power, Rajai said, “The nature of the hostage-taking
was important for us. We got the results of it long ago.”
leans must still approve
College minor bill clears
'
■ s. I ll
By NANCY ANDERSEN
E Battalion Staff
('The student senate unanimously passed
ammended version of the documenta-
ion of academic minor bills Wednesday
light.
I The bill recommends to the University
^ministration that the Registrar’s Office
pee a student’s minor on his official trans
ept to ensure official recognition of a com-
Jfted minor.
mAn amendment replaced the phrase “if
jJlplicable with “in colleges where minors
E specifically designated in the Texas
University catalog.”
|The bill was originally reported unfavor-
&b;y out of the academic affairs committee
tad was referred back to it at the last
Meeting.
; However, after some additional research
pe committee voted the bill out favorably
sfter deciding the original action was based
on several misconceptions. Kathleen Mil-
Pr, vice president for academic affairs, said
that contrary to the committee’s under-
fcnding minors are recognized in the cata
log Coordinating Board approval of the
iange was another misonception, she
id.
1 “It will just have to clear the deans,” she
plained.
Bill sponsor Phil Hannah said the bill will
'tely affect students in the College of Liber-
■Arts and possibly computing science ma-
ijors in the College of Engineering.
R In other action, the senate voted down
tin Only One Date A Semester Bill after
{be student services committee voted it
taifavorably out of committee. This bill
proposed the sale of individual football
game date tickets on a per-game basis. Cur
rently, those purchasing tickets for non
student dates must buy a $50 coupon book.
Jim Barolak, a student services commit
tee coordinator, said the bill is impractical
as written. A possible problem with the
bill, he said, would be a slowing down of
the allocation process if money were ex
changed at the windows.
Also, the bill has no limitation on the
number of date tickets which would be
available. Twenty-four thousand student
ticket books were issued this fall for the
27,000 seats available on the student side.
A problem would arise if all 24,000 ticket
book holders tried to buy date tickets for
any one game, he explained. “Date tickets
would be taking away from student alloca
tions,” he added.
A possible solution is a ticket exchange
area similar to the Travel Board in the
MSC, which would provide a central place
for any signs offering to buy or sell tickets,
said Eric Langford, vice president of stu
dent services.
The Basement Competitiveness Resolu
tion was held in the student services com
mittee. Langford and Student Body Presi
dent Brad Smith urged the senators to get
in touch with their constituents’ feelings on
the bill.
This bill would have the senate request
that permission be granted for the Coffee
house to apply for a permit to sell beer on
weekends. The Coffeehouse attracts enter
tainers like Shake Russell, and the bill’s
purpose is to make it more competitive
with similar off-campus establishments.
Speaker of the Senate Ken Johnson cal
led the bill one of the most important to be
acted on this semester because, if
approved, it would recommend the first
legalized selling of alcohol on campus.
The senate heard the Ticket Distribution
and Drill Field Memorial bills on first read
ing and referred both to the student ser
vices committee.
The ticket bill would recommend that
the Athletic Department issue tickets ran
domly only from sections 133-136, 228-235
and 329-334 on senior draw day. This
would guarantee a 10-yard line or better
seat for seniors and graduate students with
out creating long lines or a new allocation
system, said bill sponsor Brian Shepherd.
The memorial bill would recommend re
placing the missing plaques on the oak
trees surrounding the drill field. The trees
serve as memorials to Aggies who died in
World War I.
Also, the senate approved the internal
affairs committee appointments to 10 sen
ate vacancies. They are off-campus ward 1
Dale Collins, ward 2 Richard Salerno, ward
4 Frank Meckel, graduate off campus
Kevin Ludwig, university apartments
Keith A. Morgan and College of Engineer
ing sophomore Mike Holmes and graduate
Cliff Walton.
Also, College of Liberal Arts Tim Cavell,
College of Science at large Scott Staton,
College of Veterinary Medicine Mark A.
Vara, College of Agriculture at large Jim
Harris and Aston/Dunn Halls Scott Hall.
No one applied for the two remaining
vacancies for the College of Medicine and
College of Education graduate.
.
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By the light of the moon
Photo by David Einsel
This shot of the moon by the Texas A&M University tive. The photographer was standing on the fire escape
water tower was created by double exposing the nega- of a nearby building. The light streaks are stars.